According to the present invention, the terms used below in the description and the claims have the following meaning:                “bioabsorbable material” is understood as a material which is decomposed and/or assimilated by and/or in the human or animal body;        “anatomical support” is understood as non-mineralized human or animal support tissues.        
A prosthesis fastener intended for the repair of a fractured meniscus is known from EP-A-0 847 727. This fastener is made up of at least a first immobilizing bar intended to come into abutment against a meniscus fragment, at least one second immobilizing bar intended to come into abutment against another meniscus fragment, and a curved and elastically deformable linking rod. Said immobilizing bars are connected rigidly to this linking rod in such a way that each of them extends perpendicular in relation to the end of the linking rod to which it is connected.
When the fastener is implanted, the linking rod is deformed toward a rectilinear configuration so that it tends to bring the immobilizing bars closer toward one another and thereby ensures retention of the meniscus fragments pressed against one another.
The fastener according to the above document is suitable for repairing a meniscus but could not be used to fix a planar prosthetic component, for example a parietal reinforcement, to an anatomical support, in particular an abdominal wall. The reason is that this fastener with an elastically deformable linking rod and with immobilizing bars connected rigidly to this linking rod prohibits any insertion of said first immobilizing bar inside a tissue wall, and said elasticity is not adapted to such an anchoring.
Document WO 00/40159 describes a fastener which is also intended to repair a meniscus and which cannot be used to fix a planar prosthetic component to an anatomical support.
Document US-C-5 203 864 describes an H-shaped fastener intended to fix a planar prosthetic component to an anatomical support (cf. FIG. 17). This fastener comprises:                a distal element for anchoring in the anatomical support;        a proximal element for immobilization relative to the prosthetic component; and        a linking rod, which at one end connects to the distal anchoring element, at an intermediate point on the latter, and at the other end connects to the proximal immobilizing element, at an intermediate point on the latter.        
The main disadvantage of the fastener according to said prior art document and of the device for delivering it is that they do not ensure intimate contact of the prosthetic component with the anatomical support, and intimate contact of this kind is, of course, fundamental for good tissue integration of said prosthetic component. The reason is that the distal anchoring element is deployed at a depth determined by the abutment of the proximal immobilizing element against the prosthetic component. However, given the shape of the fastener, this deployment generates a certain retreat of the distal anchoring element relative to this depth, resulting in the aforementioned lack of intimate contact. Moreover, the presence of the linking rod at the end of the distal anchoring element constitutes an obstacle to insertion of this distal anchoring element and can cause a certain amount of damage at the anchoring site, the consequence of which is to affect not only the depth of implantation of the distal anchoring element but also the strength of the anchoring obtained. This, too, may result in said lack of intimate contact.
The present invention aims to provide a solution to this fundamental shortcoming.